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Bohn to receive $918K after resignation

BOULDER — The University of Colorado will pay athletic director Mike Bohn $918,000 following his resignation and will award him season tickets to various Buffaloes sporting events for life.

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard wrote in an email on Wednesday that the funds will come out of athletic department revenues, not from taxpayer dollars or tuition. KMGH-TV in Denver first reported the figure.

Bohn submitted his resignation Tuesday after eight years in charge of the athletic program. The reasons for his resignation were not disclosed.

Former CU women’s basketball coach Ceal Barry will be the interim director of intercollegiate athletics upon Bohn’s departure on June 3.

In a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by The Associated Press, Bohn promised to return his courtesy vehicle on June 3 and his university-issued cellphone, along with his iPad, on June 15. Any furniture or other personal items in his office have to be removed by June 15 as well.

He will also be paid three equal sums of $306,000 — a payout on July 1, another on Jan. 1, 2014, and a final installment on Jan. 1, 2015. Along with that, Bohn will receive eight season tickets for CU football games — along with men’s and women’s basketball contests — “for his remaining lifetime.”

All this comes with the caveat that he doesn’t sue the school “for any claims, known or unknown, arising out of the Employment Agreement.”

In an email sent to his athletic staff Tuesday and acquired by the AP, Bohn wrote: “They want to go in a different direction and that is their prerogative. This is a very disappointing, troubling and shocking development as we have made so much progress together over the past 8 years.”

Under Bohn, the Buffaloes moved from the Big 12 Conference to the Pac-12 and sent their basketball teams to the NCAA tournament. Colorado struggled on the football field, though, as Bohn fired two coaches and pushed a third out the door.

Chancellor Philip DiStefano said he will appoint a committee in the coming days to conduct a national search for Bohn’s successor. He said the next athletic director should be someone who can focus on the key goals of fundraising, “building a dynamic organization, and creating long-term sustainability in the athletics mission.”

In February, Colorado announced a $50 million fundraising campaign to anchor a $170 million multiyear upgrade of CU athletics facilities at Folsom Field and the Dal Ward Center and the development of an indoor practice facility.

DiStefano is scheduled to address the Bohn situation at a news conference Wednesday in Boulder.